1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to content-based software applications. More particularly, the invention relates to software applications that periodically retrieve content from a remote location.
2. Description of the Related Art
Information is available today to a degree that eclipses anything humans have ever experienced. The Internet is one component responsible for making the dissemination of information so simple. The broad, even worldwide reach of the Internet makes information that develops anywhere on the planet instantly accessible to anyone else on the planet that happens to have an Internet connection. This degree of instant accessibility has transformed people's view of what “current information” really is. For some people in some circumstances, information that is older than 15 minutes is ancient history—yesterday's news.
But the Internet is not alone in the transformation of information accessibility. Wireless networking has also played a major role. As people have become more accustomed to having instant access to information on their desktop computers, they have become intolerant of not having that access while away from their computers. Even a short drive in the car makes some people nervous about what they are missing. The wireless industry, and in particular the wireless telecommunications industry, is addressing that need.
Today people can use mobile devices, such as cellular telephones and personal digital assistants (PDA's), to stay in touch while away from a more conventional means of communication. Mobile device manufacturers are empowering those devices with the ability to keep the user in touch with the information superhighway. New applications and services are constantly being developed to enable users to retrieve their valuable (and sometimes invaluable) information using their mobile devices.
However, information accessibility on mobile devices is still in its infancy, relatively speaking. Conventional, even cutting-edge technologies are often inefficient when retrieving new information. Conventional mechanisms constantly struggle to find the balance between trying to keep the user up-to-date on their mobile device, while not wasting bandwidth or network usage if no new information is available. For instance, a content-based application on a mobile device, by definition, doesn't know what is available at a content server until it connects to the content server. This paradox leads to one of the most stymieing problems facing the developers of mobile devices and content-based services—how often should the mobile device connect to the server to retrieve new information?
An adequate solution to this problem has eluded those skilled in the art, until now.